The effectiveness of a substrate fabrication process is often measured by two factors, which are device yield and the cost of ownership (COO). These factors directly affect the cost to produce an electronic device and thus a device manufacturer's competitiveness in the market place. The COO, while affected by a number of factors, is greatly affected by the number of substrates processed per hour and cost of processing materials. Batch processing has been introduced to reduce COO and is very effective because processing multiple substrates saves time. However, batch processing apparatuses occupy a large amount of valuable space in a fab.
Conventional batch processing apparatuses include a plurality of vertically spaced apart supports that are moved vertically to align one of the supports with an opening in the apparatus for placement or removal of a substrate. During processing, a specified spacing between each support is necessary. As such, the height of a batch processing apparatus is twice the product of the number of supports and the spacing between each support.
Therefore, the inventors have provided an improved batch processing apparatus for use with integrated fabrication systems.